1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to the field of printer devices, and in particular, to printer devices which allows individual hammers to print in more than one column.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Printers of the prior art which are used with digital computers are generally of the high speed type wherein a line of print is accomplished by a nearly simultaneous impacting at various print positions along the print line to eventually form a complete line of data. This is accomplished by positioning a plurality of stationary print hammers, which are arranged to be uniformly spaced so that one hammer occupies each print position along the print line, and the hammers are aligned in a single row to the print line.
Another type of printer known to the prior art and which is of the low speed type utilizes a single rotating font wheel which prints in a serial fashion as it continuously translates in a direction across the paper. The font wheel has a plurality of character types arranged in the form of a helix around its periphery and a print hammer is disposed behind the paper and ribbon for impacting at selected times to cause printing of selected characters. This type of prior art printer is considered a low speed type since it prints in a serial fashion one character at a time to form a complete line of data.
Another type of printer of the prior art utilizes a rotating font drum whose length is approximately equal to the width of the paper. Stationary hammer assemblies are located in front of the drum for impacting against the paper and ribbon at selected times.